Rookie Marc Marquez proved his success earlier in the MotoGP season wasn't just a flash in the pan on Sunday, as he won the Red Bull U.S. Grand Prix at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca to increase his lead in the standings.

Marquez had never raced at Laguna Seca and no rookie had ever won a MotoGP race at the track.

"From the video, from the TV, it looks like it's a tricky track," Marquez said as he explained that he didn't think he would finish the race on top.

Marquez, a 20-year-old Spanish rider, is humble off the track, but aggressive when he's on his bike. Five years ago, Valentino Rossi made an inside pass on Casey Stoner through The Corkscrew en route to a MotoGP victory. On Sunday, Marquez, who took over Stoner's Repsol Honda ride this year, repaid the favor to Rossi. Like Rossi in 2008, Marquez ran through the dirt but held on to complete the pass.

"I already said to him that I will pay the copyright," Marquez joked.

The pass was only for second place, but it was only a matter of time before Marquez overtook Stefan Bradl for the lead. Rossi hugged Marquez after the race and the two were joking back and forth long afterwards.

Rossi said Marquez's win wasn't quite a passing of the crown because Rossi hasn't won a title since 2009, but he said Marquez is "like me, but upgraded. He's the new model."

Marquez seemed to be in awe that Rossi compared the rookie to himself.

"He's one of my heroes, he's one of the most important guys in MotoGP and motorcycles," Marquez said.

Rossi, a nine-time world champion, is generally considered one of the best to ever step on a motorcycle. Even if Marquez continues the success of his rookie season, three wins in nine races, it will be a long time before he can put together a résumé like Rossi's. But the Yamaha rider said the rookie is on the right track.

"He has the potential to become the greatest of all time or better than me," Rossi said. "He's very talented and he has great skills. He's also very young."

Marquez is the youngest rider to win back-to-back races in the premier MotoGP class at the age of 20 years, 154 days. He won at Sachsenring in Germany last week. Freddie Spencer had been the youngest when he won two races in a row in 1983 at the age of 21 years, 104 days.

Marquez is the first rookie to benefit from a rules change in MotoGP. Since 2010, rookies were not allowed to go straight from the intermediate-class Moto2 series to the factory MotoGP teams such as Yamaha, Honda and Ducati. Instead of going to the bigger, better, richer factory teams, rookies had to go to the smaller satellite teams.

Stoner hung up his leathers after winning two titles and the past two races at Laguna Seca, so Marquez jumped right onto a winning team. But Marquez has proved his worthiness by finishing on the podium in eight of nine races this season.

Marquez took over the points lead last week while the two riders above him, Dani Pedrosa and reigning world champion Jorge Lorenzo, sat on the sidelines with collarbone injuries. Both were still nursing their wounds as they headed to the U.S., but Marquez showed he was a formidable challenger.

At the midpoint in the MotoGP season, Marquez has established himself as the rider to beat. That doesn't mean that Rossi, currently in fourth place, is ready to concede the title.

"I think that today was not the right day for a fight with Marc because he was too fast for me," Rossi said. "But for sure before the end of the season, we will have another chance for a fight."